Actuating device for automatic flush-tank valves.



C. T. IVIILLER. ACTUATING DEVICE FOR AUTOMATIC FLUSH TANK VA LVES.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 4. l9l7r Patented Jan. 1,1918..

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

31a/vento@ CHHRLES T IVI ILLIEFQ C. T. MILLER. ACTUAHNG DEVICE FOR AUTOMATIC FLUsHvTANK vALvEs.

AFPLIC/WIQN FILED JUNE lM1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

v CHARLES T MnLLEa' Patented J an. 1, 1918.

UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEIoE.

CHARLES T. MILLER, OF MACON, GEORGIA.

ACTUATING DEVICE FOR AUTOMATIC FLUSH-TANK VALVES.

Application filed .T une 4, 1917.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES T. MILLER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Macon, in the county of Bibb and State of Georgia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Actuating Devices for Automatic Flush-Tank Valves, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invent-ion relates to Hush tank valves such as are used in flush tanks of closets, and particularly certain improvements in the devices illustrated in my application for patent filed April 18th, 1917, Serial No. 163,064, on automatic flush tank valves.

The general object of this invention is to simplify, Cheapen and render more positive in its action, the construction illustrated in my prior application above referred to. y

And a furtherobject is to provide valve supporting and actuating means which may be assembled and when assembled may7 be disposedas a unitarycombination of parts upon the ordinary overflow pipe, so that an old and worn out flush tank valve may be readily removed with its clamp bracket from the overflow pipe, and this improved construction put in place, without the necessity of tearing out any portion of the tank or removing or changing the overflow pipe.

A further object of the. invention is to provide a device of the construction heretofore described, in which a normally submerged float is used for the purpose of urging the valve to its seat through the intermediary of a manually actuated trip, said trip when released permitting the float to initially rise, this initial rising of the float raising the valve, the fall of the float still further raising the valve until the float has reached a predetermined lowered position, when the valve is released from its engagement with the lioat and allowed to Afall to a closed position.

A further object of the invention is to provide a valve lifting means in which the valve is lifted by a float and in which the valve is released by the mere withdrawal of a latch from its engagement with the float, thus reducing the amount of manual operation necessary in order to open the valve.

A further object is to provide means for centeringthe valve to its seat.

Other objects will appearin the course of the following description.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 1, 17918.

Serial No. 172,779.

'My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view ofv a flush tank, partly in elevation, showing my improved valve actuated mechanism applied thereto; n

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the valve actuating mechanism in position* wheny the valve has been initially raised;

Fig. 3 is a like view to Fig. 2 but showing the valve actuating lever descending and just about to release the valve;

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1; Y v

Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the valve actuating mechanism.

Referring to these drawings, 10 designates thev outlet pipe from a flush tank 11. This outlet pipe is connected by a branch 12 to an overflow pipe 13 in the usual and ordinary manner. The upper end of the pipe 10 is formed with a valve seat 141 of the form usually used with a Douglas ball valve. So far all the parts described are old and like those ordinarily found in flush tanks. As before stated, the general object of my invention is to provide a device which will ho-ld the valve to its seat by the pressure of water within the tank, which will lift the valve when the valve has been tripped, hold the valve lifted until the water has runout of the tank, and then cause the closing of the valve. To this end,-T provide a. valve stem which is designated 15 and which at its lower end carries the valveY 16, which is provided on its circumference with a groove or channel 17, having therein the washer 18 coacting with the valve seat 14. The outer wall of the channel 17 is extended sufficiently far over. as to hold the washer firmly and prevent its being flattened lor o therwisel deformed from its proper shape. y

The valve stem 15 is widened at its middle portion and longitudinally slotted, vas at 19, to form a yoke and at its upper end thevalve stem is reduced in diameter and extended through a guide eye 20 formed upon a guide bracket 21. This guide bracket at its lower end is provided Vwith an inwardly deflected armv22 having a laterally extending vertically slotted'A guide 28, in which" the yoke ,of the. valve stem l15V fits and slides. The guide bracket Qlis formed adjacent its lower end with an enlarged of material used.

portion 24, from which extendsa shank 25 received in a socket 26 formedz upon'the clamp 27. This clamp 27 is split in the usual manner of clamps of this character and is held to clamp upon the overliow pipe 13 in any suitable -mannen A set screw 28 passes through the wall of the socket Q6 and engages the shank 25. I do notwish to be limited to this construction, however, as any7 other manner of connecting the member 24 of the bracket 2l to the clamp 27 may be used.4 i i Rotatably mounted in the upper end of the yoke 15a is a roller 29, and pivotally mounted upon a stud l30 'projectingfrom the member Q4 is a cam, designated generally 3l. This cam is preferably formed of casting and has the shape illustrated'best in Fig. 3, the cam being skeletonic inform so as to make it` lighter and reduce the amount The upper edge face of the cam is upwardly curved as at 82 and the forward edge face lis downwardly and inwardly curved as yat 38,` then" extended straight outward, as at 34 to form a `nose. The lower edge of this nose and the cam yevtends rearward in an approk'imately horizontal line, as at 35. Attached to the cana is the outwardly projecting rod 8,6', which carries upon it the fioat 37. This'rod 36 may be Cast with the cam or attached Athereto in any suitable manner and the lioat may be attached to the rod in any suitable manner.

Swingingly mounted upon the yyoke 15, intermediate its ends, is a latch 3S. This latch is approximately [Ll-shaped to provide two legs 39 and a vcross bar 40,'the extremities of which are perforated as at 4l. The latch is pivoted through the legs at 42 to the yoke, the legs embracingthe 'side bars of the yoke 1.5 and the latch normally hanging in an approximately vertical position with its cross/bar extending across theslot 19. rEhe latch is operatively connected by means of a flexible metallic connection 43 to a trip handlef4?, which may be of any suitable character. When this trip: handle is shifted in either direction,it will cause ythe trip to be shifted from its normal 'position into the position shown in Fig. 'l'.

The operationVl of the mechanism so far described is asfollows :Normally the: valve l5 rests uponthe seat 14 and outlet from the tank is closed. At this time, the under face 35 of the'V nose 34 rests upon the cross bar 40. Thetloat B7 is entirely submerged and the buoyancy ofthe vfloat tends to movel the float upward and, of course,'this upward pressure on the floatl `forces the nose downward upon` the cross bar 40 andi thus holds the valve vto its seatiby the upwardv` pressure on the float'. vlhen it isdesi'red'to flush the closet, the handle 42 is rotated, which 'r` tracts the latch 38, as illust-rated in" dotted lines in Figfl. As soon l"as'the latch is retracted, the float 37 moves upward and as soon asV the cam 31 begins to rotate, its curved face 32 will engage beneath the roller 29 and as the cam rotates, the yoke 15a will ride up' upon 'the cam thus opening the valve; As soon as the handle 43 is released, the latch 38 will swing inward, so that when the yoke 15jl has been lifted a predetermined amount by the cam, the latch will swing inward to a position above the nose 34, as illustrated in Fig. 2. At this time the `float 37 has reached its uppermostpositi'on and as the water is runnin T out of the tank, the iioaty` will commence to descend and," `Aunder these circumstances, the nose 84 willC lift upward upon the cross vbar 40 of the latch, still further lifting the yoke 15a, the :valve stem l5 and the valve 1G.` the lioat 3T nears the bottom of the tank, the nose 34 will slip from beneath the-cross bar' 40 of the latch (seeFig. 3) and as soon asthishas occurred, the valve drops ot' itsown weight. As soon as the water rises in theV tank, due to the closing of the valve, V the float 37 will rise unt-il eventually the nose 34'w'ill again act to bear upon thev upperedge off the cross bar 40, againholding'and urging the valve toits seat and locking the float S75-'from any further upward movement until Vthe latch 38 is released;

there thisdevie'e is to be installed in a Vflush tank already "equipped withan overliow pipe, and it is only desired to substitute for the Douglas 'valve,l'the 'valve' "construction whichlhave described, no parts, other than those previously `d'escribed are intendedto be used, butwhere'this` valve is intended to bey applied to an overiow pipe `when the overflowv` pipe, flush` tank, etc., are initially described, then I 'will provide a cap 44 for the upper end oftheoverl flow pipe', this capv being mounted upon a lever 45, in turnI pivotally supported upon a bracket 46 extending upward from the guide member, this :lever having a Vperforation 47 in its end through which' an 'enten' sion of the stem of the valve passes, this extension being provided with a nutor Stop 48. Now when the valve falls, this'nut' or stop'48 engages with thelever 45 and lraises the cap 44 so that the overiow pipe: actsin its usual manner-,but as soon as the valve raisedby the operation of' the actuating handle, in the manner"heretoforedescribed, the cap 44 is allowed to lower on the* upper end of the overflow pipe vand closes the upper end of this overflow' pipe, so as to 'prevent the gurgling noise which usually accompanies the outliow of Ewater from liush tank and is due to the downward'passage of air into the upper e'ndof 'the ,overflow pipe, the air being drawn in bythe water passing downward through the Hush pipe.

It will be seenthatiin my construction the valve stem is guidedby the giiirle1iie1nber iso 2l, so that the valve will always descend in proper alinement with the valve seat, so as to seat properly thereon. It will further be seen that the valve is held to its seat by the upward pressure due to the buoyancy of the float and this is a very important and vital feature of my invention, and it is again to be noted that it is not necessary, in my construction, to manually lift the valve from its seat by a relatively long pull upon the actuating chain, handle, lever, or other device, as it is in the majority of flush tanks, but that a very slight movement of the actuating handle will trip the latch and that thereafter the operation of the parts is entirely automatic, and the valve will rise to its full. extent and will be held in its raised position until the greater portion of water has been discharged from the flush tank. Where the valve itself is lifted by a manually actuated device, it sometimes occurs that only a very slight pull is given t0 the actuating cord or handle and then the valve rises and almost immediately closes, without flushing the tank. With this construction, however, the slightest movement of the latch releases it and the valve is immediately opened to its full extent and then closes when the water has descended to a predetermined level. This construction is very simple, it may be cheaply made, and it is obvious that it may be very readily put in place in ordinary flush tanks having a vertically extending outlet pipe, even though that outlet pipe be not connected to the flush pipe, as illustrated. It is only necessary to remove the old valve mechanism and then dispose the collar 27 upon the overflow pipe with the valveV parts mounted thereon all ready for operation.

The outlet valves ordinarily used in flush tanks for the purpose of controlling the outlet of water are very liablevto leak. They are simply held down in place by the pressure of the water and by no positive means, as far as is known to me. Furthermore, these valves, as has been stated before, require a relatively long actuating movement and very often these valves are not fully opened. Y Furthermore, the valve ordinarilyv employed in iiush tanks is what is known as the Douglas ball or floating valve and these valves are made of an upper portion of relatively stiff rubberand a lower portion of relatively soft rubber and, as a consequencethese `valves very soon get out of shape and become laterally expanded so that they do not fit the valve seat and indeed oftentimes contact with the wall of the flush tank, thus preventing the easy movement of the valve. Furthermore these hollow iioat valves, unless they are drawn to their full distance from the valve seat, are very liable to be sucked back upon the seat by the initial outlet of water from the flush tank, and

even if they are so drawn away from the'seat yet when the Valve moves downward within an inch or so of the valve seat, the suction of the water will draw the valve to its seat,v

in the tank, a valve stem extending from the valve, a valve' stem guide carried by said member, a float operated valve lifting lever operatively mounted upon said member, and a latch'normally hindering the operation of the valve lifting lever, but shiftable out of engagement with` the lever to permit 'the raising of the valve.

Q. In a flush tank, a valve and valve stem, a vvertically disposed member, a vertically extending guide carried by said member and through which the stem passes, a valve lifting lever operatively mounted upon said member and operatively engaging the valve stem to lift it upon a movement of the lever under the action of its fioat, and a latch operatively mounted upon the valve stem and normally hindering the operation of said lever, but shiftable out of` operativeen gagement with the lever to permit the levery to lift the valve. l

3. In a flush tank, a valve seat and valve, a lever pivoted intermediate its ends, a ioat connected to one end of the lever and vnormally submerged, a cam shaped member mounted upon the opposite end of the lever andcperatively engaging the valvestem to cause the lifting of the valve stem as the lever moves under the actuation .of its float, and means normally hindering the movement of the lever under the action of its float, but shiftable to permit said movement.

i. In a flush tank, a valve seat, avalve,

a valve stem extending upward fromy the.

seat, a roller mounted on the valve stem, an

operating .lever pivoted intermediate itsv ends and carrying a float at its outer end,

the inner end of the member being formed to provide a curved upper `edge face engaging with said roller to cause the roller to ride up on said curved edge face as the lever moves upward under the action of the float to thereby lift the valve, and means normally hindering the movement of the lever under the action of its fio-at but shiftable out of operative engagementwith the lever to permit said movement.

5. In a flush tank, a valve seat, a valve therefor having a valve'stem, the stem being provided with a float, said curved face when the lever moves upward engaging beneath the roller to shift the valve stem upward, and means normally preventing the operation of the lever under the action ot its i iioat but shiftable to permit said operation.

G. in a flush tank, a valve seat and a valve, a lever pivoted intermediate its ends and carrying a float at its outer extremity, a valve stem extending upward from the valve and carrying a roller, the inner end of the lever being formed to provide a nose projecting beyond the valve stem, and an upwardly extending portion formed with a rearwardly curved face adapted to engage with the roller as the outer end ot the lever moves upward under the action of the float, a latch swingingly mounted upon the valve stem and normally engaging beneath the nose of the lever whereby the lever acts to hold the valve to its seat, said latch being shittable out ot such a position to thereby release the lever and permit it to rotate under the action of the flo-atto thereby initially engage4 the roller and lift the valve stem, the latch then swinging back to a position above the nose ot' the lever whereby when the float end of the lever falls, the valve stem and valve will be further lifted until the nose of the lever disengages from the latch to permit the valve to tall to its closed position.

7. As an article of manufacture, a valve and a valve operating mechanism for flush tanks comprising a clamping collar, a guide operativelymounted upon the clamping collar and .having terminal portions formed with alined vertically disposed eyes, a valve stem shiftable through said eyes and carrying a valve, a lever operatively supported upon the clamping collar and having a iloat at one end, the other end of said lever extending adjacent the valve stem, and means normally preventing a movement of the lever under the action of its float, but releasable to permitsaid movement, and means carried by the valve stem engaged by the lever onV its upward movement to thereby cause the lifting `ofthe-valve.-

S. As an article ot manufacture, a valve and a valveoperating.mechanism :tor flush tanks comprising a clamping collar, a guide operatively mounted upon the clamping collar and having terminal portions formed with alined vertically disposed eyes, a valve stem shittable through said eyes and carrying a valve, a. leverV operatively supported upon the clamping collar and having a iioat at one end, the other end of said lever extending adjacent the valve stem, andv means normally preventing a movement of the lever under the. action of its lioat, but releasable. to permit said movement, and means carried by the Vvalve stemv engaged by the lever on its upward movement. to thereby cause the lifting of the valve, said leverl acting upon the descent of its float end to still further littthe valve and releasing` its .engagement with the valve stemwhen the float has descended Vfto a predetermined point.

9. As an article of manufacture, a valve and valve actuating means therefor comprising a clamp, a member adjustably mounted on the clamp andv having a vertically extending guide rod, the upper and lower ends ot the guide rod being laterally deflected and formed with eyes in alinement with' each other, a valve, a valve stem connected thereto and passing through 'said eyes and guided thereby, the valvestem being slotted, a roller mounted on the upper portion of the valve stem, a swinging latch mounted upon the valve stem and-extending across said slot,-

and a lever pivotally mounted upon said member and having a iioat at its outer end, that lend of the lever adjacent the valve stem having a nose and an upwardly extending portion formed to provide a curved cam face engageable with said roller as the lever moves upward under the action of the float to thereby litt the valve, the latch normally engaging beneath the nose of the lever but being shiftable out of such engagement.

In testimony whereof I hereunto ailix my signature in the presence of two witnesses. vCHARLES T. MILLER. Witnesses:

FREDERIC B. VRIGHT, D. R. WILSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing theommissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

